Voltron: Defender of the Universe #3

History

The series was written by Dan Jolley and co-written by Marie Croall, with Jolley assigned to the project after Devil's Due acquired the Voltron license in 2002. Jolley approached the material as a genuine reboot of the 1984 television series, feeling that because the original cartoon had been adapted from two separate and unconnected Japanese anime properties, he had creative freedom to build a more cohesive single narrative. Volume 2 — the 'Paradise Lost' arc encompassing issues #1–11 — was the first run self-published directly by Devil's Due rather than distributed through Image Comics, and issue #3 was produced with layouts by Mike Norton, finished pencils by E.J. Su and Clint Hilinski, and inks by Clayton Brown. The series was eventually placed on hiatus after issue #11 due to low sales, with the unfinished final chapter later released only in the hardcover Voltron Omnibus.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Published March 17, 2004 by Devil's Due Publishing as part of Volume 2 ('Paradise Lost'), the first arc self-published by Devil's Due without Image Comics as distributor.
• Story title: 'Paradise Lost, Part 3: Pursuit.' Written by Dan Jolley & Marie Croall; layouts by Mike Norton; pencils by E.J. Su & Clint Hilinski; inks by Clayton Brown; cover art by E.J. Su, Andrew Peopy, & Val Staples.
• Key plot development: the Lion Force Voltron and the V-15 (Vehicle Voltron, reverse-engineered from stolen lion technology) come into direct combat with each other for the first time in this continuity — a clash of both Voltron incarnations in one issue.
• Commander Hawkins discovers that the Galaxy Garrison officer who ordered the lions captured and reverse-engineered is a Drule sympathizer, revealing a high-level betrayal as the arc's central conspiracy.
• On Arus, Coran attempts to console Sven, whose disturbing dreams begin to worsen — foreshadowing Sven's ongoing arc tied to a neurological condition established earlier in the series.
• The first five issues of Volume 2 (including this issue) were adapted into the 2007–2008 motion comic series 'Voltron: Defenders of the Universe — Paradise Lost,' produced by Eagle One Media and later broadcast on the Syfy channel.
• The 'Paradise Lost' story arc was collected in a trade paperback (November 2004), and the entire Devil's Due run was later collected in the Voltron Omnibus hardcover, which also published the otherwise-unreleased issue #12.
• Creative elements introduced in this Devil's Due reboot — including robotic space mice and the surname 'Kogane' for Keith — were later carried forward into the Voltron Force animated series.

Cast · 30 characters

Full credits

Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers